ISLAMABAD: Three more educational institutions have been closed in Islamabad after Covid-19 cases were detected there.

An official from the Ministry for Federal Education said two private schools, including an upscale school in F-10, and the Islamabad Model College for Girls I-10 have been closed.

The official said around 100 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Islamabad’s educational institutions so far.

He said the situation is under control, because 25,000 tests have been conducted in public and private institutions so far of which around 100 were positive.

He added that institutions are being closed regularly, and several have reopened after five days of closure while their owners had the buildings disinfected.

As of Wednesday, 15 private and 12 public schools remain closed, he said.

Although institutions were previously closed for five days, this was recently extended to 14 days.

There were 122 cases of Covid-19 reported in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Sources said 3,798 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, of which 122 came back positive. The positivity rate for Wednesday was recorded as 3.21pc.

A total of 118 people tested positive for the disease on Tuesday.

Rawalpindi

A patient died of Covid-19 on Wednesday and 17 people tested positive for the disease.

A 49-year-old man who lived in Gujar Khan was brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on Oct 20 but died Wednesday morning.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood admitted that the number of Covid-19 patients has increased slightly, but said the situation is not as bad as it was four months ago.

He said the district administration of Rawalpindi has been asked to implement standard operating procedure, and negligent officials will face action.

He said there are fears that there could be another Covid-19 surge in the region, and the government has made arrangements to manage patients and limit the spread of the disease.

So far, 7,365 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Rawalpindi district of which 303 have died and 6,883 have recovered.

There are still 298 patients isolated by the district administration and waiting for their test results.

There are 18 confirmed patients admitted to Holy Family Hospital and 160 isolated in their homes; patients under home isolation are being checked on by health authority officials.

Local administrations have said 540 people are quarantined.

Taxila

A man died of Covid-19 in Taxila while three more people tested positive for the disease, health authorities said on Wednesday.

A 55-year-old man who lived in Wah Model Town died of Covid-19.

Three people have also been diagnosed with the disease, bringing the total to 527.

Deputy District Officer Health Dr Sara Qadeer said that all three patients are from different localities in Ward 8 of the Wah Cantonment.

She said there are 43 active cases in the area, all of which are under home isolation.

Attock

Seven people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in Attock, bringing the total number of confirmed cases there to 648.

The district’s focal person on Covid-19 Dr Asif Arbab Niazi said that five of the new patients are from Attock city and one patient each is from Hazro and Jand.

He said there are 13 active cases across the district, all under home isolation. The results of 2,866 suspected patients are still awaited.— Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2020